Here in Maine, as in many other states, a lot has been said lately about the advantages of the latest in light bulb technology and about how consumers are doing themselves and the environment a favor by buying these new compact fluorescent lights. Many Maine residents have filled out the short forms at CFL points of sale and enjoyed a $2 discount on the spot.

All this CFL activity is under way with nothing but the best of intentions in mind. However, it is time to shine a bit of light on another trend in Maine and across the nation, one that is transforming thousands of living rooms and seriously undermining any effort to successfully cut energy costs, at least thus far.

The subject here is HDTV – big screen HDTVs in particular – and the sad fact is that while there is much talk in consumer electronics circles about the need to reduce the power consumption of HDTV sets, the reality is that the presence of just one HDTV set in a typical household can pretty much offset, if not entirely wipe out, all the energy cost benefits achieved by the installation of a dozen or more CFLs in the same household.

While you can read on an energy conservation Web site maintained by the federal government that “every CFL can prevent more than 450 pounds of emissions from a power plant,” the same Web site should probably mention that the average HDTV no doubt generates 2 tons of emissions or more using the same scale of measurement. A mild distortion? Not really. In fact, the consumer electronics crowd will admit that when it comes to the power consumption curve as a whole, many HDTVs on the market today rank right up there with older refrigerators.

The purpose here is not to hang a cloud of guilt over upscale consumers and TV fans or to point fingers at retailers of consumer electronics, but the federal government and the states are not focusing on this issue for the simple reason that there is really very little that can be done in the short term by these folks to fix this situation. Besides, all the sales tax revenue on big-ticket items such as HDTVs is much appreciated in state capitals these days anyway.

The adverse impact of HDTVs on household energy budgets is no secret. The average living room entertainment space where HDTVs often are hooked up to DVRs, HDTV receivers and home theater systems resembles the Twilight Zone from an energy savings perspective. Saving any HDTV kilowatts has been perhaps a bit harder to accomplish because the issue of HDTV power consumption was overshadowed for quite a while by the more complicated issue of HDTV interfaces, something that many early generation HDTV set owners would probably prefer not to be reminded about.

Add it all up and what you get is a challenging public policy scenario that does not get any easier to solve over time. As we approach the February 2009 cutoff date when existing TV transmissions terminate, and all TV households have supposedly made the migration to digital, there will probably be a flood of set-top boxes in stores. These will no doubt be accompanied by a steep discounting of existing big screen TVs and of course, hopefully, a greater selection of more energy efficient digital HDTV sets.

Get the picture.

As for coupons, CFLs are the not the only items covered. Starting next Jan. 1, your household will be eligible for a pair of $40 coupons to help cover the cost of the new digital converter boxes you will be needing when the old TV transmission system disappears. This money was approved by Congress when it passed the Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005.

So, put your feet up, grab your remote, charge your iPod and switch on those CFLs. Might as well check your PC, too.

Peter J. Brown is a freelance writer from Mount Desert.